The Dark God

Malkar & Valadain in Gran Breton (Mar21st – cy 4822)

The throne room of Gran Breton is silent. The echo of Valadain’s tirade resounds around the empty and cathedral-like hall and Malkar is silent…his breathing calm, perhaps to stem the tide of anger within him…or perhaps to weigh the words of his disciple carefully. The tension is palpable, it fills the air between them and remains like a thick pall of smog.

            “Your words sting like a thousand bees,” the god says, head turned downward, “there are few other beings in this world that would speak them to me with such venom…and live. Your appraisal of Gran Breton is correct, yet you misunderstand my motives, and misunderstand the why. Things in Gran Breton will get far worse before they improve, Valadain, oh yes…I have not even started on the academies or the combat schools yet. The thieves and killers’ guilds are already running scared; the generals of Bretonia have been demoted to mere foot soldiers and their legions given no more arduous duties than to patrol the sewers.

            “I fully intend to squeeze them further in my reign as emperor…I intend to impose a theocracy on them and make them all hate me. To be a priest or a templar will be the only sanctuary. Bretonia will beg for release from my grip.

            “That is part of my plan. Muziel did more than remove the emperor; he removed or replaced the most important and influential of Bretonia’s hierarchy. No organisation or social body or embassy was left out…Muziel plays a dangerous game but he leaves nothing to chance. Even if Sarrik returns tomorrow his empire is so polluted with Muziel’s influence that it will be the Echeron Lord’s hand on the throne.

            “I am here to restore his empire…not crush it. The palace will become a temple, a cathedral where I can worm out the emissaries of Muziel and cleanse it once and for all. Muziel doesn’t just place spies…he commands the soul totally – many do not even know they are under his influence. The very fact that the population grows uneasy with my reign is of no consequence…the end result is what I am driving at. Naturally I will not make this public – that the Bretonians hate me is of no consequence…all that matters is that when Sarrik returns his empire is clean, and the people will love him all the more for removing me.

            “I am no tyrant, Valadain. But I will endure any discomfort to place Sarrik back on his throne. Presently it serves us better if Muziel thinks he has an advantage. A strong Bretonian resistance is his greatest threat…if I can make him believe that Bretonia is on the brink of collapse then he may become complacent and make a mistake. There must be a good reason for him to keep Sarrik and Illythar alive…it would serve our cause better if you tried to discover it.

            “Which brings me to the thief, Vaitor Varkos. His enmity towards you goes further than you think…his lust to pay you back for humiliating him dominates his thinking and has turned his wits to jelly. The moment your aerial servant wrestled the amulet from him he fled…though it was no blind escape. He flew straight south, he virtually banged down the door to Muziel’s palace and begged the Echeron Lord to take him in. Muziel is no fool – to ally himself with the enemy is folly, particularly an enemy with such guile as the king of thieves. Muziel gained more from the conversation than Viator did and soon he began to give the thief useful information…or at least enough rope with which to hang himself!

            “Muziel merely affirmed the thief’s suspicions and artfully moulded his hatred back upon myself…and you. After Viator’s meeting he came to Gran Breton, where my work is upsetting his thief-folk. As a measure of his trustworthiness the king of thieves has hired six of Bretonia’s finest killers. As we speak they lay in wait for you…wait for you to roam some dark and dimly lit alleyway. The king of thieves has studied you well; if anyone knows your weaknesses it would be a close associate.

            “And so it is you come to a hidden truth, Valadain. Whilst my tyranny is distasteful it has within it an altruism that will return the boy emperor to his throne and make his empire a better place for it. Where is the altruism in Muziel? Or Viator?

            “It is a cruel world and oftentimes we must make difficult decisions for the common good…it is a lesson you must learn quickly, Valadain Raikos, for to follow false gods is unforgivable…as it is to listen to the words of those whose motives are less than true.

            “Now go from my sight…”

Malkar turns from his disciple and sighs, the fable white sword of the priesthood is slung across his back – his only protection in the nest of vipers that is Gran Breton.